Simple Truths
by Keith Koenar
Summary: They are sitting in front of the candy machine. On the floor, munching on one chocolate bar after the other, because apparently they are five years old. Later, they sit under an oak tree, and things happen. Jack doesn't do lies. Clark is young and stupid. Maybe they both are. - Jack Kline/Clark Barker slash romance story, multi chapter, alternate ending. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

They are sitting in front of the candy machine. On the floor, munching on one chocolate bar after the other, because apparently they are five years old. For a second Clark asks himself how old Jack really is, but then he remembers it does not matter, he already saw the guy naked.

If he's not legal it's too late anyways.

Clark tries to concentrate on his candy bar, dismantles it from its chocolate with his teeth so that only the crunchy middle is left over. It's an old habit of his. Resurfaces when he's trying really hard to make detention a tad bit less boring, or when he's trying really hard not to stare at the fucking naked guy from this morning- Jesus Christ.

Clark steals a glance at Jack and nearly chokes on his next crunchy bite, earning a slightly startling look from the other boy.

"So..." Clark plays it off cool, clearing his throat. "You from around here?"

It's a stupid question, Clark knows that. It's the kind of question his mother would ask, he guesses he has that from her. He can see Jack trying to work around it, can see a spark igniting motion in the depth of his eyes, as if an answer would require an unimaginable amount of brainpower. When Jack opens his mouth, Clark interferes.

"It's a yes or no question. Don't overthink it, it'll make your brain hurt."

Jack smiles. He seems to like that.

"No," he answers, taking another bite off his candy bar.

With Clark, everything seems easier. Clark doesn't care about angels, demons and monsters, when Dean had told him of the probable cause of the next apocalypse, all Clark had done was shrug.

"There ain't nothing I could do about it," he had answered.

Clark doesn't care that Jack's a nephilim either. There is no higher power play, there is nothing Clark wants specifically. Sure, he thinks it's rad Jack can loot candy machines, or take away the pain from his stab would, but he never specifically asks for anything. He let's things happen, to him, to the both of them, without asking the quintessential questions of life or bestowing Jack with the responsibility of the world's fate.

It comes naturally. Because with Clark, everything is simple. And standing at his bedside in the hospital, or sneaking out for sweets in the shop around the corner, Jack feels he knows Clark, like he knows Castiel or his mother. No fog between them.

Just two stupid teenagers out on stupid adventures.

They're leaving soon. And Jack is bad at keeping secrets, bad at keeping them because he does not quite know what a secret is yet, or the utility of it. So underneath the oak tree in the hospitals garden, he simply blurts it out.

"Were leaving tomorrow," he says between two gummy bears, "Sam says we've already been here too long."

Jack turns to find Clark looking at him, and suddenly he feels he knows what secrets are good for. There's a hint of panic in Clark's baby blues, only for a second, before he turns away, picks away at his candy bar, picks it apart. There's a short silence, and Jack bows his head in the oak tree's shadow, already mourning for the loss of his only true friend.

"I'm getting discharged in a week," Clark says suddenly. "Maybe I should just leave sooner. A few days more or less don't matter, do they?"

There's hope in the baby blues the next moment they meet. A breeze shakes the leaves above, a whisper breathing life into their chests, and Jack stops feeling like an all powerful nephilim and starts feeling young and stupid. There is so much more than he can explain, in that split second of life on earth, a spark that is inherently human. Clark does not recoil when the wind picks up its pace, whipping his dark hair into his eyes, or when a hint of a golden glow buzzes underneath Jack's skin. He is not afraid. He too, is young and stupid.

Under the oak tree's shadow, Clark kisses Jack, and Jack smiles.

Dean thinks it's a bad idea, says so right away.

"This is a bad idea," he says, word for word, but there are another thousand words behind that. Jack can feel it, in the agitated glow of Dean's soul, and he can't even be angry at the rejection. He rarely is these days. He let's things happen to him, just like Clark does.

Sam pulls him aside afterwards, with his understanding, soft eyes and the crease between his brows.

"Sorry about that," he says, voice soft, hand warm on Jack's shoulder. "Dean can be a bit brash sometimes. Look, I don't want you to think we're trying to impose anything on you, but Clark... He's not like us. He doesn't have to get involved into any of this."

Jack speaks the truth, like he always does. He doesn't do lies, or secrets. The world has been built on lies and secrets, and look what it's come to. "He wants to."

"Sometimes what we want is not necessarily what's best for us." Sam's shoulders fall. "It's just that, the people around us-"

"Bad things happen to them," Jack finishes naturally. He seems to do that a lot. He can read in people's eyes. "I understand."

He does. He really does. He knows Clark is not like them, not like him. For humans like Clark, there are consequences. On an universal scale, they live a day, glow one night, and then succumb to the dark. They wither and die. It's the way it is.

"Everything lives on in heaven." The nephilim smiles. "Nothing truly dies."

But Sam only shakes his head. "It's about what happens to them before."

And Jack can't take take from him. He can't take away Sam's pain and memories and suffering, he can't take away the fear. They are both speaking the truth.

"Did you talk to him?" Jack asks, and watches Sam nodding guiltily. A grin spreads on Jack's lips. "He really is stupid courageous, isn't he?"

A short burst of laughter escapes Sam's lips. "Yeah. Yeah he is."

"Don't worry. His safest place is by my side."

Sam looks up at that, and there's a spark of recognition. For a second, they are reflecting each other.

"I'll protect him."

I'll protect all of you.

And just like that, the fog clears.

The room is warm around them, around Jack's tendrils of grace wrapping the air. He's staring at the white ceiling when Clark stirs, the sheet they use as cover shifting, and a blind hand reaches for Jack, digs into his flank. With a light groan, Clark slips closer and over Jack, covering his body with his own, drawn in by the warmth. He places a sloppy kiss on the soft curve where Jack's jaw meets his neck, and wanders further up with a lopsided grin, mashing their noses together, full of affection.

Heat rises between their chests, and Clark's sleepy eyes are on Jack's now.

"Hey," he breathes.

"We never said goodbye."

Clark let's go of a chuckle at that. "That's not what I meant, it's just- ah fuck it. Doesn't matter. You're right."

And Jack can't help bit grin at that. "I always am."

Clark only laughs quietly again, glee in the edge of his dimples, and Jack thinks he's beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful man on earth.

When their lips meet in a kiss, Jack knows he is. And he's always right.


	2. Chapter 2

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div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.63px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word;"  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Blood splatters, tiny shards cutting into Jack's soul. He whips around, his peripheral vision fooling him, and breathes a sigh of relief when he finds Clark pulling out a blade from an angels side. Another angel takes advantage of Jack momentarily distraction and plunges a blade into his side, as of they hadn't learnt by now that those do nothing to him, and Jack snarls at the nuisance, literally snatches the grace out of the angel and pulverises it in his fist. Another second to bring his anger under control, and then he turns to Clark, who is grinning at him stupidly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Nice," he comments, and Jack's chest jumps./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"One second they are smiling at each other, the rest of the world forgotten, the next Clark's mouth grimaces with a silent scream, slick sound of flesh cutting into Jack's ear.. Eyes full of fear and regret, Clark trembles to his knees, revealing a smug demon./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Didn't expect that, did you, Jackie-boy," it says, pitch black on Jack./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"On the floor, Clark is wheezing, not quite dead yet, face full of terror, and in Jack's chest trembles the great void. The nothingness all had always been afraid of, the one that would implode and engulf the world, and then engulf itself. It's trying to claw it's way out of the entrapment of Jack's chest, pounds against his ribcage, and right in its center, Jack's heart sobs./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"There's blood on his hands, a vessel smeared up to his elbows, and suddenly he's afraid. Of himself, of what he can do. He's ripped the demon apart, he could rip the universe apart and swallow it, he could swallow Dean, and Sam, and /Clark./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The earth trembles and cracks, Jack screams. It's loud enough for Sam and Dean to flinch over three miles away, and their eyes, wide and panicked, look up into the brewing purple skies./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""This is it," says Sam, guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Dean wants to tell him I told you so, but instead comes a, "Don't be. We did our best."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The skies holler again, and pull on the strings of time and space until they snap with a boom. It is Jack, tearing at the fabric of the universe in his uncontrolled fury, until his blurry vision fills with an iris of red./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lucifer grins through the rift./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Hello, son."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"It's a disgusting word. It should not be, because it is the truth, and at the same time, it isn't. An ugly head rears up inside of Jack, answering the archaic call of bloodline, a snarl rising from the depths of his throat. He is lost in the rage, lost to turmoil, can't focus his eyes, can't focus himself, can't fight the nephilim inside./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Who would have known a human's soul and angel's grace could birth such a monster./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yes, yes, good. Be a good boy, come to daddy. Come to daddy."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lucifer is almost half way through the rift. Grin lewd and full of mischief, he can taste victory on the tip of his tongue. Finally. After all these years. He can taste it even on the tip of his extended fingers, the energy of his own kin that will plunge everything into oblivion, just for him. The nephilim's eyes glower red and piercing./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack is lost, so lost, fighting a losing war./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Victory is his./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Clark sputters a last word./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A spark of recognition. Golden fibers in the fabric of his memory, tendrils of self-woven truths, oak trees and nougat. Young and stupid. Yellow and blue./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"And instead of letting the void engulf him, Jack engulfs it. Inhales its power and balls it in the fist he grabs Lucifer with, and with a roar he pulls the devil back just in time for the rift to close up and snap the fallen angels left foot off. Lucifer's enraged cry fills the air, and when Jack pushes him back, his father stumbles backwards. He concentrates his power on rebuilding the lost member, but Jack is there, hovering above him in a white light./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I need you to give something to me, father," Jack says, spite in the word. "Something precious. Something that should have been taken long ago."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lucifer is bleeding, almost like a mortal. He can't rebuild his foot, Jack knows. A part of Lucifer stayed behind on the other side, and even the devil himself is not powerful enough to get it back. Only Jack can./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lucifer knows that. And he throws everything and Jack, who remains unmoved against a force born aeons ago. Only his hair flows, as if the might of Lucifer's doom was but a soft breeze./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"And then, because Jack doesn't do lies, he adds./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""This is your own doing. I'd tell you to remember, but there is nothing to remember. You'll be dead."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Lucifer inhales to scream, opens his mouth, but the sound stiffles when Jack opens his mouth and engulfs it. Engulfs the scream, engulfs Lucifers grace, pulls it out like a stray string out of a piece of clothing, making the earth tremble with the inhale. There is nothing Lucifer can do to fight it, not his struggling, not his pulling hands, not his wide, panicking eyes. br /Jack drinks the devil, until the light in Lucifer's eyes goes out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.238px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He's dead. Clark knows he's dead. There was only darkness, and then a light flickering at the end of the tunnel. He can't go yet. There was something else./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"His eyes flicker. His fingers twitch. Pain. Only Pain. He wants to go back to ignorant bliss, can't leave yet though. The pain is worth it, he tells himself, and then he remembers. Perpetual warmth, golden eyes in the dark of the night. Chasing the day, stolen kisses and a thumb tracing the back of his hand, the length of his arm, drawing maps on his skin as if he was the most beautiful thing on earth./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He was. To Jack./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Clark's lips move./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Jack."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"And then he's gone again./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Yet, as long as he's breathing, he's not out of the game. His body keeps on fighting. His soul rears up against the shackles of humanity. Inhale. One last time, always one last time, a rattle in his lungs, blood on his pale lips./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"With his last inhale, Jack pushed the devil's spark into Clark, and created life. One life taken, one given. Such were the rules. Such was the truth. And Jack did not bend the truth, never did, he applied it, word for word./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He restored balance. And there was no balance without Clark./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Eyes fluttering open, forever blue against yellow./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What is he doing?/p  
/div  
/div  
div id="chapter-3" class="chapter" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #2a2a2a;"  
div class="userstuff module" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 1088.63px; float: none; word-wrap: break-word;"  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Well, uh, proposing." Clark's eyebrows jump up and he wraps his lips around the staw of his milkshake, slurping noisily. "Huh. A dozen roses and shit, I've gotta give it to the guy. He's going all in. Hey- Hey stay here!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""But she's crying."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""It's not..."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Clark trails off and Jack understands then it's one of those moments. He does not know what yet, but he's done something wrong, he's out of the loop, as Dean would say. Sometimes, when Dean thinks he's out of ear shot, Jack can hear him mutter God damn it, not this shit again under his breath. Sometimes, Dean treats Jack as if he was deaf. Or /Jack supposes he is, somehow./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Another look at Clark's hesitantly parted lips, and Jack casts his eyes downward. Something shamefully human blooms rosy on his cheeks./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I- sorry. I'm being stupid."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"And suddenly Clark's eyes fill with amusement. "Yeah, you are. So what. It's called being human."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack's eyes snap up. The loop-sided curve on Clark's lips sits graciously on his open face, honest and golden. Clark gives a non-commital shrug, and it kinda feels like an apology, but Jack does not feel like he's owed one. A small laugh shakes his shoulders, his blonde hair falling into his eyes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""That sounds good," he answers./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Being human sounded much better than being stupid. Their fingers intertwine in a ginger touch. Clark grins around the straw of his milkshake, slurping again, and Jack watches Clark watche the newly allied couple through his aviator sunglasses. They are both crying now. Clark holds his hand steadily. Humanity makes the hairs stand in the back of Jack's /The sun is warm, the plaza buzzing, and for a second Jack understands./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.238px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Steady. Searing pain, a gunshot, and the ground underneath Jack wobbles and stumbles over his feet, the world tilting as he falls. Ruby blossoms on his white shirt, his hand comes back red and another wave hits him. Jack gasps, head spinning, and shaking hands come to push down on his stomach, blood seeping through fingers. They are not his own. The breaths come shorter now, and with perplexed eyes, Jack turns to Clark./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Is it supposed to hurt?" he asks./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Clark smiles desperately, bites his lips as he nods. "Yeah," he croaks, "It's supposed to hurt."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack breathes, winces at the sharpness in the center of his chest. "Good. Fuck."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He's picked that up from Dean, the swearing. He has been using it quite a lot recently, with his new found almost mortality and all, he can feel it when he stubs his toe or gets a papercut. But this, this was something else entirely. An insisting burn like he hasn't encountered before, and through the haze of this new found sensation, Jack realises it's because it is purely physical./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He's never been hurt like this before. Usually it's words that cut this deep./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He's trembling, Clark is trembling too. Both of them are at a loss of what to do, and panic fills the air. Through the phone wedged between his shoulder and his ear, a loud and agitated voice talks Clark through some movements, but his hands are clumsy and his brain heavy with fear./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"There's blood, so much of it, on his hands, in his nose, pouring out of Jack. Clark tries to swipe his curls out of his face, smearing his forehead dark with it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack's lids flutter, Clark's phone clatters to the ground./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Stay with me, please just, stay, concentrate. Keep your eyes open, Jack, don't- Sam will be here any minute now."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Desperation in the voice, coarse and tight. But Jack is so, so tired all of the sudden, and all he wants to do is to go to sleep. What's the worst that could happen?/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Please."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Clark is begging. Praying, quiet whisper piercing through the spot between Jack's eyes, a remnant of his powers reaching out, holding onto the words. Icy blue eyes flash, rummage through his chest, seeking, but they are not Clark's, they are much more wise and powerful./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"They find his core, grab it, squeeze it back to life./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A tense spark courses through Jack, electricity in the tip of his fingers, and nails dig into his stomach as he gasps, heart going a hundred miles an hour. The golden ring of his grace finds it's way into his iris, to the surface, and pools seething hot where his and Clark's hands touch./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack screams, and then there is darkness./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.238px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"br /"This is span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"not/span okay," Dean hisses, and Sam flinches./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"They are talking about him, pretending he is not right there, as they always do. And this time, Dean is pissed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Come on, it wasn't on purpose."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Sam. The voice of reason. The big brother Jack never had, and something about that bugs Dean. There is a twitch in his lips, and a jump in his shoulders, his clenched fists almost look ready to sock Sam, knock some real reason back into him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Look at him! Look!" he shouts, gesturing through the hospital's window. "He did this! Jack did this."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack thinks he's right. He hates Dean for it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He hates himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The machine Clark is hooked to beeps once as his chest rises and falls with a laboured breath. A tightness wells up in Jack's throat and nausea rises, and he can't take it anymore, the chair next to Clark's bedside screeching as Jack shoots up. The door slams shut behind him. His eyes flit between Sam and Dean, begging. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""We have to do something."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Dean grimaces then, closes in on him, and the few inches he has on Jack seem like miles. "We? You did this! I thought you weren't supposed to be able to do any of this freakish stuff anymore, seriously. Well, what are you waiting for!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"There is rage in the depth of Dean soul. He likes Clark, and Jack suddenly feels like Dean had predicted all of this a long time ago, the first time Jack had laid eyes on the blue eyed pretty boy. They are fighting a loosing war again, only this time there is nothing Jack can do. He can not protect them anymore. He can not even protect himself. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Things are different now," Jack says earnestly./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Dean closes his eyes, the wish that Jack was able to spin a lie hanging between them. He pinches his lips and says, "You know what, I'm done. I'm out of here."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The words echo as Dean turns his back to walk down the corridor. There are so much more words brewing inside of Jack, yearning to break free, all silenced when Sam pushes a big hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. The last thing Jack sees of him are dissapointed eyes, and the finality of his broad back as he walks away./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Loneliness fills the corridor. It is not quite over yet, but it kind of is./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.238px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What the fuck is wrong with you!?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""With me? Christ, Clark, are you blind? He doesn't control this anymore, he doesn't control anything anymore! And one of these days, it's going to kill both of you!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""It's always somebody else, isn't it? Anything to pretend you're not responsible."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I've been responsible my entire life! For everything and everyone!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Yeah, except for Jack, because he's the only thing you can't control."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Get out."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Gladly. Oh and by the way, fuck you."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;" /p  
hr style="margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; border-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; width: 359.238px;" /  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"br /There's still a faint pain everytime he moves about, a small reminder that he is still healing on the inside./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""What?" Clark asks./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack shakes his head, takes a second to gather himself. The sting is more than a reminder of an old battlewound, it's a reminder of his mortality. And he has no idea how to deal with it. In the small one room flat they share since their fallout with Dean, Jack moves about for a bit, puts a mug in the kitchen sink, leans against the counter top./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He can barely look at Clark, all he can see now is the burned scar running up his hands. All he can see is guilt./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""It's just... Weird." A pause. His hand comes up to his stomach. "I didn't think it would get worse afterwards. I don't know what I expected, but I didn't think... defeating Lucifer would cost me this much."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""You didn't die."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack flinches. Casts his stare away. "Maybe I should have."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Maybe I should have too," Clark suddenly snaps. "But I didn't. You brought me back."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack knows what remorse feels like then. Not about Clark's words, or the fact that he did pull him back from the brink, no, it was remorse for his own words. Remorse for the truth they carried. He should be dead, he can feel it deep in his bones. It's the reason why he's so weak./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I'm not important anymore, Clark," he says, hair falling into his eyes, the countertop's marble cool against the palm of his hands./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"That too, is true. A fulfilled destiny left nothing but a life without purpose. Without purpose came the loss of the few friends he had, the loss the butterflies in his stomach everytime he looks at Clark. Maybe this was it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"For the first time in his life, Jack actually wished for his powers back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"A presence near his, pressing against him, and Jack closes his eyes, lets himself be taken away by the warm fingers tracing his face. A breath hits his lower lip, moist and wanting, and on their own accord, his fingers find skin. For a moment, they share a bubble, throwback of a time when they were ignorant and young./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"The last two years really have taken their toll./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""Talk to me."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""I can't. I want to die. I want my power back."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""We can get it back."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;""No we can't."/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Silence engulfs them. Clark is still peppering Jack with little meaningless affections, lost to the melancholy of their desires. Jack thinks back to that day, Lucifer's energy powerful in his lungs, Clarks limp body in his arms. He remembers what it took him, how the blunt of his grace was ripped from his core as he gave it up. A balance tipped to their favor. A life for a life./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He's starting to get drunk on the memory, swaying softly in Clark's embrace. Glimpses of his fathers grace pouring out of him, purified, and he goes back further through time, through his apprenticeship under the Winchesters, through the shared moments when he and Clark snuck out in the middle of the night, through the ice cream clerk's pearly white smile. He goes back through all the moments of kindness, tries to find something to hold on to./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Desperate, he goes back until his memory clashes with the one of his mother, and then another rises, almost palpable. A grace connecting to his, caring, almost alive. Too vivid in his memory to be truly faded, and he can see them again, those blue eyes that he has never met./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"Jack opened his eyes, realisation hitting him. Breathing against Clark's face, immersed in the warm morning light, Jack realised he was more than a nephilim./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"He was a thief./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5;"And there was still one last thing he needed to steal back./p  
/div  
/div 


End file.
